Pulse
19 August 2024
In his epistle, which was addressed to ‘the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad’, James has some definitive things to say about the Christian’s attitude to anger. He urges Christians to ‘be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.’ He adds that this is because ‘human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires’ (James 1:19-20).
This passage has led some Christians to conclude that Christians should never be angry, and that all forms of anger are, without exception, unchristian.
Those who hold this view must take note of the biblical balance which is found in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where the apostle writes, alluding to Psalm 4:4, ‘In your anger do not sin’ (4:26). Paul here makes a distinction between sinful anger and what some theologians have described as righteous anger or holy indignation.
Sinful anger is that rage which is rooted in selfishness and pride. It signals the loss of self-control, which is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and which is so vital in all human relationships.
It is the kind of anger that has no redemptive qualities but only results in bitterness and the fracturing of community. Sinful anger is born out of self-importance and self-righteousness instead of a genuine concern for justice.
In his book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis describes the disposition behind sinful anger thus: ‘The state of mind which views everything as an opportunity for self-expression or self-assertion, rather than as an opportunity to serve others, or the state of mind in which sinful anger flourishes.’
Like all other forms of sin, sinful anger does not bring honour to God. This is the kind of anger that James warns Christians about.
There is, however, another kind of anger which is God-honouring. Theologians and spiritual writers of the Church have described this kind of anger as ‘righteous anger’, holy anger’ and ‘holy indignation.’
This is the anger that is not self-serving or self-indulgent. It is an anger that is directed against sin, injustice and evil. It is an anger directed at whatever angers God, that ignites the divine wrath.
The Bible provides numerous examples of holy indignation or righteous anger.
The best example of righteous anger in the OT is arguably Moses’ reaction when he saw that the Israelites had fashioned a golden calf and made it an object of worship. In his anger, he shattered the tablets of the Law, an act which symbolises that the people of God had breached their covenant with God.
In Exodus 32:19 we read: ‘As soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.’
In the NT, Jesus exhibited holy indignation when he drove the money changers and merchants out of the temple. John describes the scene in this way:
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade’ (John 2:15-16).
In his commentary on this passage, the great Reformer John Calvin provides an excellent explanation of the reasons behind Jesus’ holy anger, namely, the profanation of God’s holy temple. In exhibiting his indignation in this way, Calvin writes, Jesus
… warns them now not to profane the Temple of God by perverting it to alien uses. The Temple was called the House of God because God willed to be invoked there in particular, because there He exercised His power and because He had set it apart for spiritual and holy ceremonies.
Jesus drove the merchants out of the Temple, Calvin adds, in order to ‘restore the worship of God to its integrity, which has been corrupted by the wickedness of men and in this way renew and defend the holiness of the Temple.’
Christians need not be afraid of exhibiting righteous anger or holy indignation when they witness injustice or when the God they worship is blasphemed. Neither should they be afraid to speak out when Christianity is mocked or treated contemptuously.
Writing to his friend Reinhold Niebuhr, the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer states that ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’
But in expressing our perfectly justified anger against the perpetrators of injustice or the deriders of God and his people, Christians must be careful to take heed of the wise words of Augustine, who in One the Free Choice of the Will (De liberto arbitrio) writes: ‘He who is angry at the right things, and with the right measure, and with the right reason, is not to be condemned.’
Holy indignation is not only being angry ‘at the right things’ and ‘with the right reason’. It is also anger ‘with the right measure.’
This brings us back to the passage in Ephesians 4. Verses 26 and 27 in their entirety read: ‘Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.’
Without a sense of proportionality (i.e., the right measure), righteous anger (i.e., anger at the right things and for the right reason) can become sinful anger. Put differently, if holy indignation is itself not wisely governed, it can become an expression of self-righteous angst.
And when this happens, our expression of anger shifts away from addressing injustice or honouring God. Instead, it becomes centred on ourselves, the importance of our ideals, the significance of our agendas.
When this happens, we have inadvertently allowed the devil to transform our righteous anger into something entirely profane.
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor at Trinity Theological College (Singapore) and Theological and Research Advisor of the Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.